Mike and MH, If we can keep the thread on subject it will remain...any leaning towards the political posts will cause an immediate lock-up again.

I have been working on zeroing that Ruger Scout 308. It is a fine rifle. The 338 Win Mag is a bit more gun than I have handled in the past. I don't know if it will be a keeper or not. If we sign up to take a Bison this Fall, it should be the weapon of choice...but that decision has yet to be made..

I have a brand new Browning A Bolt 308, that I just sold on layaway for a guy in Virginia. I have never used the BOSS muzzle-control system on a rifle. The Browning has it. I have asked the buyer to do a review for me when he gets the gun.

Meantime the deer have returned to chow-down on Janets strawberry beds. Their lives are in jeopardy

lleechef and I have been watching a forkhorn, a six-point and a doe walking around the front yard enjoying some of the foliage. lleechef's probably going to be using a scoped Horton crossbow come fall to put some of that visiting venison in the freezer.

I'm scrambling to get a bunch of purchases in before Oct 1 of this year. I bought a polymer AR 15 lower from JoeBob's Outfitters (a quality organization, DON'T hesitate to order from them) for $150 and they were on sale last week for $134. The only glitch was waiting 75 days to pick it up from my FFL (pm me if you want to know, no political stuff here).

I have a DPMS complete upper on order from RGuns. While it seems they have little or no customer service, if you can wait 4 months to get your stuff, the prices are good ($400 for a complete upper, ready to be pinned on the lower). That will be my starter $550 AR.

I'm looking to get a used Colt AR, hopefully the LE6920. Not sure if I'll be able to find what I want and take possesion by Oct 1 though.

Ammo has been somewhat more available in Maryland, though it's still catch as catch can. Online prices have gotten much better, though sometimes there is a back-order wait to receive what you but.

Don The Tokarev TT33 was produced in the Soviet Union in 1940. It is not one of the Clones made in China or the European Warsaw pact countries guns. I bought it from our 'houseboy' in RVN just before I left the country in 1962. I often wonder about it's history and how it srvived WW II and the years between 1940 and 1962. It is my one and only war trophy of the 1960's. I do shoot it now and then, but it is more of a display gun than most ofmycollection.

MH About the poaching. We filed a claim with the DNR about damages to our garden and 50 fruit trees by crows and deer. As a result, we can 'protect our crops' should the animals come in to damage us again....and the crows are hitting the immature fruit pretty hard. I am going to start using a 20 ga. birdshot gun to scare/shoot the birds, but leave the few deer we are seeing alone at this time. ERuby- still hard to find many calibers of ammo here, lots of griping but no real solutions in the wind.

Al Fireworks are cheaper to scare off crows and 20 gauge and works just as well. I had about 30 buzzards that had chose my property to roost and they were making a stinking mess. All it took for them to make a decision to find another place was about 3-4 large bottle rockets. Vamoose they did.

Also at many gun shows, some vendors have fireworks similar to M-80's. I bought a bunch and they are extremely loud. They came not fused but the sold fuse. I just punched a small hole in the container, inserted the fuse and got away. More like a cherry bomb.

We have been using Bottle Rockets effectively for several years...this year the crows are ignoring them for the first time. I figure a couple of dead crows will re-instill the fear of loud noises. I don't anticipate shooting a deer before the season begins.

Al - the tokarev that Shane has is one of the clones, it is solid, but with big hands it just doesnt fit or feel right.

Was supposed to go to the "farm" today (a friends spread he owns and co owns about 1000 aces in ohio and switzerland counties) and catch lots of fish and shoot some but it has been raining and now thunderstorms so i will sit on the front porch and scare the neighbors cat with some bottle rockets.

I have been looking at an H&K P30 .40s&w It is a nice compact gun with good pop. I don't like the fact there is no manual safety. (which if it were just me in the house would be ok, but when the son is here)(he is that age ya know).

I have been looking at an H&K P30 .40s&w It is a nice compact gun with good pop. I don't like the fact there is no manual safety. (which if it were just me in the house would be ok, but when the son is here)(he is that age ya know).

What do my experts think??

I don't think a manual safety will make much difference. If your son is going to get to the gun, a manual safety may not prevent a discharge. I'd go with a bore-lock, or biometric safe.

The H&K is an excellent gun and you surely won't be dissapointed.

I have both a Glock 19 and 23 (9mm and .40) and while some lament the 'no safety' of a Glock, the MOST important bit of advice I ever heard was "keep your booger hook off the bang switch". The only safety on a Glock is the one between your eyes, but I do understand that many like the additional external safeties on some guns.

I do have trigger locks and barrel locks on all weapons in the house, I even keep the bolts and pins separate from the long guns too. (something grandpa always did)

I like the H&K because the grips can be interchanged to fin the one that fits my big paw better. Of course changing the grips is not easy with H&K (like it is with many other hand guns) but with a punch and hammer you just pop out the roll pin and interchange them and pop the pin back in and you are set.

The H&K is small enough to be discreet, yet powerful enough to get things done.

I have never been impressed with .9mm, there just isnt enough pop to them. I was doing a ride along with a county sheriff's deputy who was called to put down an injured deer. He pulled his glock 19 - pow and all I heard was YOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

The round bounced off the deer's skull and embedded into my friend's right foot. I was trying so hard not to laugh at his pain, but he kept cursing the deer, cursing his .9mm, and hobbling around like a little old woman. I had to call into dispatch and ask for an ambulance and supervisor, when asked what for, I simply replied "the deer didnt go quietly".

Good buy over at Woot.com today if you are looking for a great air rifle. I have the Varment Hunter and for plinking and small game it is accurate and very powerful. 1250 fps with the good pellets....Russ

I had an order in to RGUNS for a DPMS complete upper (the A3 light) which was $419 (399 + 20 shipping). The problem is they don't ship for 4 or 5 months and they have extremely poor communication.

On July 3rd, I got the Palmetto State Armory sale email and they had a complete upper for $399 and shipping was only $15. It's a carbine length system (as was the DPMS), and the barrel has the cut out for the grenade launcher, where the DPMS was a straight barrel. PSA should ship in 12 - 15 businees days. So hopefully, my $550 AR with the New Frontier poly lower and the PSA upper will be just around the corner.

Still deciding on another handgun or two (or more) before 10/1/13 as I don't cotton to having to get fingerprinted and pay $50 for a license to buy a handgun.

I had been a bit worried about cancelling the RGUNS orderas I read some horror stories, but they responded to my email that order was canceled and no cancel fees have shown on the credit card.

Looks like Jan and I and one of our grandson's will head back over to Missouri for another round of Hog and (maybe) Elk hunting. They are running a special to fill in some empty days in the schedule. at the end of this month..and we are looking forward to another good time in the woods.

We leave Sunday for the Ranch in Missouri. Hunting Monday and Tuesday, then leaving Wed Morning after breakfast at the camp. We hope to take 3 large Russian or Razorback Sows. The Ranch does all the butchering and processing into butcher paper wrapped store-like cuts. This time we will have much more of the meat ground into their wonderful sausage, as we consumed a lot from last year by late winter. I will have four of the shoulders, the ribs and loins done, but we won't do All the belly-meat into Bacon like we tried last year. Add in the Jowel meat and the Heart/Liver/Tounge for dog food and we will have a load to carry. Last year our total take was 460 lbs of finished meat, 2 Hogs and a large Whitetail Doe/ This year we shoyuld increase the net weight !! I hope to do a better job of the photo record of this years hunt and the surroundings in Missouri. Michael H- Looks like a Waffle House breakfast in Rolla for us Monday morning after our late night ride over from here.

Mr. Mayor, you guys have a great time, and a great hunt. A Waffle House breakfast? I didn't know they served breakfast. Be sure to have a nice dinner at that Steakhouse down the hill from the Waffle House.

Sunday.. we leave tonight for an interesting Hog Hunt in Missouri. Janet and I and our 16 yr old Grandson, Chris. He is a capable hunter and will assist me in moving around as needed on this trip. We carefully zero'd the 44 magnum carbine with Janet, so she is as ready as she can be. Chris decided to share the use of my Ruger Gunsite Scout .308 rifle. Both guns are quite capable of putting down a hog at a reasonable distance. The weather may be an issue. After a week of pleasant dry weather (including today) the forecast for southcentral Missouri is for showers and on/off Thunderstorms on Monday (40%) and more on Tuesday (70%) then clearing in time for our ride home on Wednesday. We have our mud gear ready and will do our best to get the job done, rain or shine. Our new chest freezer will be delivered tomorrow morning...Great timing , ehhh! It will give us 25 cu.ft. of additional space. My neighbor will supervise the installation of this device and have it ready for the meat we are bringing home from Missouri. We have a 21 cu ft upright in the house, but it is almost full of grocery stuff and veggies and fruit from our trees and garden. So the new one will receive the results of this expedition.

I will be carrying my 44 mag revolver in the crossdraw rig I bought a few monthes ago. I probably won't need to use it, but it is a 'back-up' for the long-guns. I had hoped to do a detailed photo journal of the trip, but am concerned about the weather's effect...so wish us well, and watch for the results about this time next week. A special thanks to Uncle Groucho for the offer of temporary freezer space a week ago. We weren't sure our new one would arrive in time to handle the incoming pork...but it seems to have worked out right for us this time.